The Only Exception
by Lightning Catastrophe
Summary: A young Lightning promised her parents before they died that she'd never fall in love that didn't exist, cutting herself off from everyone but Serah. But all that changes when she meets a certain spiky haired boy. Details inside. CloudxLightning. AU
1. Promises Are Made

**The Only Exception**

… **Last night (actually this morning :P) I was listening to the radio, and 'The Only Exception' by Paramore came on. I was bored and just before the song came on I was thinking, "Hm .. maybe I should write a CloudxLightning fic since everyone wanted me to do that in TwoLSaS (1st fic)." Suddenly, The Only Exception came on and I started listening to the words. I quickly wrote it down in my book, and thus, this story was born :D**

**Anyways, on with it!**

**Oh, and because I'm rather uncreative, this story is AU and Lightning lives in Bodhum at the moment, 'cause I just don't feel like making up town names x.x **

**Warning: Lightning's real name, family fighting, and slight language maybe later on.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or XIII. If I did, the series wouldn't have lasted to FFIX T_T; … if even :P**

* * *

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Promises Are Made**_

A ten-year-old Claire Farron lay in her bed. Her cobalt blue eyes wide open and fully awake. She was wrapped up tightly in her rose colored quilt, her hands clutching the sides in a white-knuckled grip.

Her eyes flickered to her digital alarm clock as she heard an aggravated growl followed by lots of yelling, making her cringe.

It was one forty-nine AM.

"Ugh! You know what James? I'm going to my mother's. I'll pick up the kids tomorrow morning." Claire's mother, Charlotte Farron yelled at her father, James Farron.

"Charlotte -!"

"_Let_ _go of me!_"

A tear escaped Claire's eye as she heard her four-year-old sister, Serah, begin to cry from all the yelling. It was the second time that night that Serah burst out crying in the room next to Claire's.

_Thud, thud, thud._

Claire heard her mom stomp past her room and down the stairs.

_Slam!_

It was the third fight this month.

Thought Lightning was young, she acted rather mature for her age. And hearing her parents fight like this all the time made her both mad and sad.

She heard her father sigh and her baby sister's door open. After a few minutes, Claire could hear her father faintly talking to Serah, whose cries and wails at ceased.

A minute or two later, some light spilled into her room, her dad's shadow cast into the ten-year-old's bedroom. Claire quickly snapped her eyes shut, feigning sleep.

"… Claire?" her dad whispered softly from the door, watching his daughter's back as she faced the wall. "I know you heard all that."

No response.

Claire stiffened when she felt her bed dip behind her as her dad sat down.

He sighed deeply.

"Claire … marria-" he began, but was cut off by his daughter.

"- Marriage has its ups and downs. Yeah, I _know _dad. You've told me before." _And again, and again, and again. _Claire added as an after thought, grimacing.

Claire's dad grimaced too, and outstretched his hand to touch his distant daughter, but thought better of it and dropped it.

"Claire it'll -" she cut him off again.

"- Be fine. Sure dad …" she sneered the last part, too upset to care.

James felt his heart crumble. _Do me and …Charlotte really fight this much?_ He wondered, biting his lip. _I hope when she grows up and gets married this doesn't happen to her …_ A sudden idea came to his mind.

"I'll promise you something if you promise me something in return." He said quietly.

"… Okay …"

"I'll promise to try and fight less with your mother and leave you alone right now. If you promise me something very important."

Expectant silence.

"If you promise me right now, that you'll never fall in love, that doesn't exist." James waited.

No response.

He sighed. _I guess not … _

As he got up and made for the door, he heard Claire mutter, " … I promise." Softly, just before he smiled and shut the door, leaving Claire in the dark once again.

Little did he know exactly _how _hard his silent, independent, friendless daughter was taking his fighting with her mother.

* * *

**Not that much, I know, but … meh, I thought it suited the length just fine … for the first chapter I mean xP**

**Don't flame this please, if you didn't like the story, click that "Back" button up at the top of your web browser and pretend you never read this. If Claire's parents' fighting struck an angry nerve with you, then write down your feeling on a piece of paper, crumple it up and tear it, then toss it in the trash or whatever you feel like doing with it.**

**My parents used to do this all the time when I was little, but thankfully, it never ended in divorce. :/ So yeah … I mixed a _smidge _of myself in with Claire in this chapter, 'cause I wanted to make it a little more … me? I dunno. Anyways, if you like, click that little button down there. You know you wanna! XD Lol, anyways, I don't know about updates, as I'm already having trouble updating my first fic (4 months old and only 7chapters Dx) Soo … yeah.**

**R&R please!**

**L.L**


	2. Gone

**The Only Exception**

**... I got bored today and felt like writing, so yeah …**

**And thanks for the reviews! ^^ I'll reply to them here …**

**BiJane – XD heh, thanks. Lol, I think this story will be updated more often than TwoLSaS, just 'cause this story's chapters won't be as long as the other (I type around 20pages in TwoLSaS … so far 2 ½ here xD)**

**Ghost-roach – Thanks x3. Yeah, I'm glad too :/**

**PersonalBest – Awe thanks man :D :/ Yeah that must've sucked for you though … the counseling and all T_T And it's pretty stupid what's happening in your family at the moment -.- Yeah thnxxx **

**Oh, and just to clear up any possible questions, the Maker, Chocobos, and whatever else I decide on, still exist here. L'Cie, C'ieth, Fal'Cie, and Mako don't so far. Unless … I decide to incorporate some action ! :D**

**Annnddd on with it :P**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FF blah blah blah …  
**

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* * *

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**The Only Exception Chapter 2**

**Gone**

**Things weren't** going well for the Farron family.

Claire was barely speaking anymore and began failing classes, and Serah was crying at night and acting more like her older sister.

Reason? Charlotte and James were getting a divorce.

At night, Claire heard them fighting more than usual. But she noticed her dad held back a lot; he still kept his promise. Therefore, Claire kept hers. It had been a year since they made that promise to each other.

Claire, now eleven, grit her teeth and resisted the urge to start yelling. She wasn't _as _sad anymore; for she had grown used to it. But anger replaced that sadness. Due to her parents spending more time away from each other, Claire had to do her parents' chores and her own, while taking care of Serah. On top of that, Claire got teased at school for having no friends, and she was failing all classes except for gym, which she got straight A+s in.

* * *

**The next** day, Claire was in class, when suddenly the principal walked in with Serah trailing nervously behind him.

"Excuse me Ms. Villacorte? I need to see Claire Farron." Mr. Callaghan requested.

Claire frowned as all of her classmate's gazes turned to her.

She could hear them whispering things like,

"Wow, what'd the emo kid do now?"

"Psh, I hope Callaghan makes her do detention. Little Miss Perfect would be horrified."

Claire ignored them and looked to her teacher, a young twenty-five year old with dark brown hair with lots of waves in it. She was quite short actually, about 5 ft. 4; a couple of inches taller than Claire.

"No problem Mr. Callaghan. Go ahead Claire." She said, nodding with her head towards the door as her left arm hugged a red binder and a textbook to her chest, and her right hand held a stick of white chalk.

Feeling confused, Claire stood and walked to the door. The principal stood aside so that she could pass, and instantly Serah hugged her older sister's arm.

"What's happening Claire?" she whimpered. Serah had never been called down by the principal and was horrified of getting in trouble.

"I don't know Serah." She replied honestly as the principal shut the door to her classroom just before Ms. Villacorte called the class' attention back to the chalkboard.

The two sisters followed Mr. Callaghan back to his office, Serah clinging to Claire's arm the whole way, practically trembling in fright.

Claire rolled her eyes as they entered the principal's office.

"Serah, calm down. I'm sure you're not in any trouble. You're too goody-goody to do anything wrong." Claire teased slightly, and ruffled her younger sibling's hair.

"Your sister's right Serah. You're not in trouble. However …" Mr. Callaghan took a seat in his chair. The principal was rather tall, dwarfing Ms. Villacorte. He had curly brown hair and wore a chocolate brown striped suit with a black tie. He also wore square glasses and a golden ring on his finger.

"This may come as a shock to you two," he sighed, folding his hands together with his elbows on the desk as he rested his forehead on his hands. "You're parents got in a rather … deadly car crash with a reckless street racer."

Claire's eyes widened and she felt her heart begin to race. Serah clutched her sister tighter and let out a frightened squeak, her eyes as big as saucers. "Wh-what?"

"They're in the hospital right now."

Claire's brain suddenly became unresponsive and she couldn't breathe. She hadn't spoken to them for days … maybe even a couple of weeks. And then … this?

"Ar-Are they al-alright?" Serah asked, trembling.

Claire just stared at the floor, still not breathing as she waited for the highly anticipated answer.

"Alas … I don't know Serah. I just received a call from the hospital stating that your parents are in the infirmary … with extremely bad injuries."

Claire grit her teeth, breathing once more. She glared up at her principal, and the next thing she knew she was yelling.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW? IT'S A SIMPLE QUESTION! ARE THEY ALIVE OR ARE THEY … or are they …" Claire took a deep breath, unable to say the last word.

Mr. Callaghan grimaced as the oldest Farron who used to get the best grades in the school – all A+s – looked down once more, her strawberry blonde hair curtaining her face as her body visibly shook. He was not surprised by her sudden outburst, though his secretary was outside.

"I'm very, very sorry Miss Farron." The principal sighed, rubbing his temples with his index fingers.

Serah had let go of her sister in surprise when she began shouting, but afterwards she quickly wrapped her arms around the eleven year old again, feeling her body shake each time she breathed. She gave her sister a squeeze, trying to comfort her.

"There's a car outside to drive you to the hospital." Mr. Callaghan told them quietly. "A family friend of your mother's apparently."

Serah nodded while Claire just stood there, immersed in her thoughts.

_I didn't talk to them for two weeks … they knew I was mad at them. I completely ignored their existences … and now … now they might be gone forever … _

"She said her name is Kate Trudel."

Serah nodded.

"We know her." She said, voice slightly trembling.

Claire remained unresponsive.

"Good. You can both go now." Mr. Callaghan said.

This time Claire nodded as she turned away and opened the door, head still down. Serah followed, still hugging her as they exited the office and went outside.

In front of the school was a black Honda Civic. A tall, thin woman leant against it. She had long black hair that seemed blue in the sunlight. Her skin was freckled and albino, and her eyes were covered by black sunglasses. She wore dark blue skinny jeans and a black leather jacket despite the fact it was summer. Claire and Serah had met her twice before. Serah was fond of her and Claire felt awkward around the woman. While Kate looked like a punk rule-breaker sometimes, she was actually very sweet and caring. But .. you just didn't want to get on her bad side. Claire did once and it was a long and heated fight, with Kate coming out victorious. The fight had been over what color was the best. It had happened when Claire was seven, and Kate had been teasing her the whole fight. The twenty-nine year old was very childish at heart, but could be mature when she wanted to.

She gave the two Farrons a sad smile as she saw them approach her.

"Are you two okay?" Kate asked gently.

Serah let go of her sister and ran at the woman, hugging her around the waist. Kate stroked her hair gently, and hugged her back.

Claire just stood there, watching Kate and her sister. Kate was pretty much like her much older sister in ways, but at the same time she was like a stranger.

"Claire? You alright?" she asked, looking up at the silent young girl.

_Does it look like I'm alright? _Claire wanted to yell at her. But it wasn't Kate's fault that her parents may die. Kate was a nice person. She didn't deserve to be yelled at.

So, in response, Claire merely locked gazes with the older woman and shrugged.

Kate grimaced and pulled away from Serah.

"Alright you two. Get in the car and we'll drive to the Hospital. Okay?" Kate said, opening the back door.

Serah nodded and hopped in, sitting in the middle seat.

Kate looked at Claire, and approached the strawberry blonde girl.

"Hey." She smiled weakly, bending down to Claire's height. "Come on, you want to see your parents right?"

Claire looked up at Kate once more and nodded. "Yeah."

Happy that she got a response out of the silent Claire, Kate stood up straight and gestured to the car. Grudgingly, Claire entered the car and slammed the door.

Kate sighed as she walked over to the driver's side and climbed in.

"You both got your seat belts on?" she asked as she slammed her own door and pulled on her own seat belt.

Claire nodded, eyes downcast again. Serah nodded too.

"Alright. We should be there in five. 'Kay?"

Two nods again.

Running a hand through her hair, Kate started the car and turned on the radio. A second later they were driving out of the school parking lot.

"What kind of music do you guys like?" Kat asked as she looked up and down the street before turning on her blinker and turning right.

_Tick, tick, tick, click._ The blinker went as it shut off.

"Pop!" Serah exclaimed, grinning despite the situation.

"Rock and metal …" Claire grumbled, just loud enough for Kate to hear.

Kate thought it over. _I need Claire to cheer up … so … I'll choose her music._

"Okay, we'll listen to rock and metal on the way to the hospital -" Serah let out a squeal of complaint. "- And on the way back we'll listen to some pop. Sound good?" Kate asked as she switched the radio to a rock and roll music station.

Claire nodded, staying silent as usual. Serah nodded vigorously.

Claire's eye twitched at her sister's happy personality. Did she not realize that after this, their parents may never come back?

A second later, Claire's favorite band, Rocking Chocobos, came on and filled the car with electric guitar and shattering beats. And occasionally some screaming. The car ride was silent other than that. The depressed eleven year old looked out the window of the car, seeing the tree filled street side of her home town, Bodhum. Not many people were outside, as it was still school hours, and all the adults were still at work. Kate's car zoomed past the beach, a popular tourist destination in Bodhum. The sky was cloudless, allowing the sun to cast light all over the beach. Kate rolled down the windows as they drove by, letting Claire hear the gentle crash of the waves in the distance. The smell of sea salt and fresh air entered the car and Claire inhaled it deeply. The ocean water was the precise color of Claire's eyes, and it sparkled in the distance. In about five seconds, the beach disappeared from view, though the smell lingered. Kate took a right, another right, a left, and a right, and soon they were at the Bodhum Hospital.

Kate parked the car near the entrance of the huge building, and shut off the engine. Wordlessly, they all exited the car and walked towards the double doors that led inside the Hospital. Kate pulled out her keys, which jingled at the action, and plucked out one that looked like a mini remote. She aimed it at her car and clicked it, hearing a satisfying beep from it as it locked.

"Alright," Kate said, breaking the silence. "Let's go."

* * *

**Kate talked **to the secretary at the front desk, and found out that James and Charlotte were on Floor 8; Car Related Injuries.

Thanking the secretary quietly, Kate beckoned Claire and Serah over to the elevator where three other people were waiting to get on.

_Ding._

The elevator rang, and opened its doors. Seven different people filed out, two being nurses. The Farrons, Kate, and the other three people boarded the elevator, which _dinged _again as its doors shut. Kate quickly pressed the number 8 on the pad by the door, which turned orange on contact. After the other people pressed their floor numbers (2, 9, and 5) the elevator began to move.

Once it reached the eight floor, Kate, Serah, and Claire exited the elevator and walked down the eerily silent hallway. There were three different doors in the hallway, each having a different sign on them. The first one read, STORAGE CLOSET. The next said, BATHROOM. The last one at the end of the hall said in big black letters, CAR RELATED INJURIES. With a list of names underneath. Claire scanned it, and saw her parents' names. Farron, James, and Farron, Charlotte.

Claire nodded to Kate, who silently opened the door to reveal a large white room with ten different hospital beds. Six of them had a curtain drawn around them, while two other beds were empty. However, at the end of the room, were two beds with nurses crowding around them.

Suddenly, a female nurse in mint green scrubs with short curly hair approached the three newcomers, and gave them a bright smile, flashing perfect white teeth.

"Hello. And who are you visiting this fine day?" she asked brightly. The nurse was rather short, around Ms. Villacorte's height. She came up to Kate's shoulder and had to look up at her.

"James and Charlotte Farron." Kate said, removing her sunglasses to reveal her dark compassionate jade green eyes.

The Nurse's face fell at the two adults' names.

"Right this way." She almost whispered, her smile gone.

Kate grimaced and looked down at a nervous Serah and a scared Claire.

The trio followed the nurse, whose hair bounced with each step she took.

A lump formed in Claire's throat as they approached the bed surrounded by the doctors and nurses. _Oh Maker … please don't be them. _Please _don't be them …_

But it appeared that the Maker didn't want to give the eleven year old that wish.

The short nurse approached a man with gray hair and a mustache who appeared to be the doctor, and whispered something in his ear. The man nodded to her, and took a glance at Serah, Kate, and Claire.

"Alright, all of you please leave for a while. Angus will call you back in later." He announced.

The other nurses all nodded and left, some giving sympathetic looks to the two children. After they all dispersed, the doctor walked over to Kate, talking quietly.

Claire's eyes widened when she saw her parents.

Charlotte's arm was in a sling with many stitches on her exposed skin. Her eyes were shut and what seemed like a hundred of wires and IVs were hooked up to her. Her breathing was raspy and shallow. Behind her, Serah gasped and clutched Claire's arm. In the background, Claire could faintly hear the words, "Fatal", "Not", and "So".

"M-mommy?" Sera stuttered. Claire looked at her baby sister, now eight years old. Serah's eyes were brimming with tears, and her lower lip was trembling. Claire grimaced and hugged her sibling, feeling her own tears coming on.

The doctor came up behind the two sisters and said, "Your mother has many injuries. A couple of broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder -" Claire quickly covered her sister's ears, shooting a glare at the doctor as Serah began to whimper, "A punctured lung, and many cuts."

Kate shot a glare at the doctor from behind. _Why is he telling them? _She thought angrily, and approached her friend's bed.

"Charlotte?" Kate asked from beside Claire, grimacing at the older woman's injuries. Charlotte was three years older than Kate, and had used to stand up for her in elementary and high school, then helped her find a job when she was in college.

Mrs. Farron stirred and opened her eyes, which were a milky hazel.

"K-Kate?" she croaked hoarsely, and began coughing. "Cl-Claire and S-Serah?" she coughed again.

Kate smiled sadly at her friend and nodded, stepping back and gesturing Serah and Claire over.

Silently, Claire shuffled over, while Serah ran around her to see her mother.

"S-Ser-"–Cough-"ah …" Charlotte smiled, and raised her bandaged hand to touch Serah's cheek.

Serah sniffled.

"Mommy? Will you be okay?" Serah asked, tears flowing.

Kate bit her lip. _Oh no … _thinking quickly, Kate place her hands on Serah's shoulders and said, "Hey, wanna go talk to your dad?"

Serah nodded and turned to the other bed as the doctor walked away to tend to some other patients.

Charlotte gave Kate a thankful look before coughing.

Claire stood awkwardly by her mother's bed, looking down.

"Claire?" Charlotte asked rather strongly for someone who kept coughing and looked like they were about to pass out from the effort.

Claire looked up, her expression guilty.

"You've grown so much …" Charlotte whispered, smiling.

Claire swallowed and just stared at her frail mother.

"Promise me one thing …"

Claire nodded vigorously.

"Take care of Serah. Please?" she began coughing again.

"I promise mom … and I'm so sorry for not talking to you and dad for so long." Claire said quietly, her voice breaking. Tears began to fall down her face.

Charlotte smiled kindly.

"You have n-nothing to be apo-apologizing fo-for." Her coughs increased, "We were th-the one's fi-fighting …"

Claire sniffled as her mother's dangerously cold hand touched her cheek.

"Be … nice … to … K-Kate … pl-please …" and with that her mother's hand fell.

Claire's eyes widened at this.

"M-mom?" she stammered.

"Claire … she's just sleeping. It's alright." Kate whispered, crouching beside Claire, with a reassuring hand on her upper back. She took Claire's left hand, expecting it to be torn away from her. Claire just watched her mother. Guiding the young girl's hand, she placed it above Charlotte's heart. Claire calmed down a bit as she felt her mother's heartbeat. Albeit it was weak, but it was still beating.

Claire nodded and turned away, approaching her father's bed. Kate slowly stood up, grimacing. _Those two are too good for this to happen to them …_ Suddenly the gray haired doctor approached her.

"Do they have any other family?" he asked her with a sweetish accent.

Kate shook her head sadly, eyes on Claire and Serah.

"You _do_ know you'll have to send them to the orphanage then."

Kate's eyes widened.

"No!" She hissed angrily, glaring death at the doctor.

He grimaced.

"They need someone to look after them -"

"Then I will!" Kate snapped fiercely.

The Swedish doctor shook his head. "That won't be possible I'm afraid. You do not have permission from the parents."

Kate cursed under her breath when suddenly Charlotte began to speak again, low enough for only the doctor and Kate to hear. "Kate … can look after them …" she wheezed.

Kate nodded as Charlotte drifted back to sleep.

"See?"

"Yes, okay. You'll have to sign some paper work then."

Kate nodded and glanced back at the two kids. "Gladly." She said as she looked back at the doctor.

James Farron was in worse condition then Charlotte.

His head was bandaged, with multiple cuts and stitches. He had a cast on his neck and his foot was in a harness, all wrapped up. Claire looked at the clipboard by his head, and grimaced. It said he had a bad concussion, possible memory loss, a broken foot, a sprained neck, lots of glass in his skin, a broken nose, two missing teeth, and a dislocated knee.

Serah had had enough and was sitting in a waiting chair, her head in her hands as she kicked her legs above the floor.

"Claire?"

Claire looked up as she heard her name be whispered, to see her father watching her.

"D-dad! I'm sorry I didn't talk to you or mom for so long!" she exclaimed, new tears falling from her face.

Her dad began to give her a weak smile but grunted from the pain and stopped.

"It's okay honey … it wasn't your fault. Remember that promise we made to each other?" he asked

Claire nodded.

"Try and keep it while looking out for your sister. It might just …" he took a sharp intake of breath, "Save your life … be good okay?" he asked before going unconscious.

Claire whimpered and nodded, whispering, "I promise."

They stayed in the Hospital for three more hours, Kate signing some sort of paper work. Serah had fallen asleep, and Claire was on the verge of sleep too. _Maybe if I fall asleep I'll wake up, and this'll just be some horrible nightmare …_ Just as she began to close her eyes, Kate approached them, finally finished with the documents.

"Claire? Are you still awake?" she asked softly.

Claire groggily opened her eyes and nodded.

"Great. Come on, time to go."

Claire groaned and got to her feet, rubbing her eyes with her fist. She looked up to see Kate lifting Serah in her arms, just like dad used to.

"You two are going to stay at my place for a while, okay?"

Claire nodded and looked at where her parents were. They now had a curtain around their beds.

It was still bright out, Claire noticed as she and Kate got into the older woman's car in silence, Serah in the twenty-nine year old's arms. Kate strapped Serah in, and went around the car to the driver's side. Claire climbed in and put on her seat belt as Kate started the engine.

Somewhere along the way, Claire drifted into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

**When Claire **awoke, she found she was in an unfamiliar apartment in an unfamiliar bed with Serah. She looked around and got up, feeling groggy and depressed as the day's memories came back at her like a brick to the face.

Claire opened a door and found herself in a cozy little room with a brown leather couch facing a old looking TV. The room had dark red walls and hard wood floors. In front of the couch was a glass table went up to her kneecap, there was also a white tiger styled carpet beneath it.

She could hear clattering of glass from a room nearby. Walking around silently, Claire walked into a short hallway, the walls littered with photos. On the left, was a doorless threshold. Walking into it, Claire found Kate on a cordless phone, her expression sad and horrified. She noticed Claire and nodded to her, raising her index finger at her, signaling one minute.

Kate sighed. "Al-alright. Okay. Yeah. Thanks. Bye …" she pulled the phone away from her ear and clicked the off button as the _pitter-patter _of raindrops hit the window behind her.

Kate looked up at Claire with a sad expression, and said sadly in a slightly trembling voice, "Claire … you're parents just passed away."

* * *

**Awe … poor Claire and Serah. The scene in the Hospital was actually quite easy for me to write … I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing O_o**

**Uhm, Cloud shall appear soon … if I threw him in now I'd be rushing the story. Soo no Cloud yet :P**

**I based Kate on my cousin and me … so yeah I like her :D**

**Uhm, that's it for now I guess. Here's a preview of the next chapter.**

**Preview:**

She had to be strong for Serah … but she couldn't do that if she was the weak and emotional Claire.

Lightning flashed in the sky, lighting up Kate's bedroom.

Claire looked up at the sky thoughtfully as it rumbled and was lit up again.

_Lightning … it can't protect. Only destroy …_

Well … she _could_ destroy things. That's it! She'd destroy for Serah; to protect her. Keep her safe.

That was it. She'd become Lightning.

Lightning Farron.

**Until next time!**

**R&R please! All support shall be directed to Claire, Serah, and the OC Kate!**


	3. Coping

**I dun feel like writing a long A/N like usual, so, in short, sorry I haven't updated in ages, and I do not own FFXIII nor FFVII**

* * *

**Coping**

Claire's eyes widened so wide that Kate grimaced and thought they might just fall out of their sockets.

"Wh-what?" Claire stammered, her knees wobbly. "Wh-what did y-you s-say?"

"Claire..."

Claire shook her head violently and fell to her knees, covering her ears with her hands as she whipped herself around dangerously. Tears slowly slid out of her eyes.

_No, no, they can't be dead. THEY CAN'T! THEY WOULDN'T LEAVE ME AND SERAH ALL ALONE! THEY WOULDN'T! NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY HATED EACHOTHER! THEY WOULDN'T! _Claire screamed in her head and she began to sob loudly. _Th-they wouldn't, would they? They love us, right? B-but what if we were the reasons they decided to divorce? What if secretly they were just saying they were going to get divorced in order to abandon them? _

Kate reached out to Claire hesitantly, her heart breaking at the sight. Just before her long fingertips couldn't even touch Claire's shoulder, Claire jumped up so fast that she made Kate give a little yelp. Claire stumbled backwards and fell onto her back.

"Claire...?" Kate asked, confused.

_What if...what if Kate is just going to abandon us too? What if she was in on this from the start?_ Claire began crawling away from Kate, backwards, never taking her eyes off of the older confused woman. Kate got out of her chair, frowning.

"Claire, what's wrong? You look like you've just seen a demon!" Kate knew that most of Claire's reaction was due to the surprise of hearing her parent's death, second hand, but the girl didn't seem sad, but terrified. Frightened out of her wits. Furious. Hateful. An aura radiated from the girl that made Kate almost inwardly flinch. _Is it even possible for an eleven-year-old child to give off such a...paranoid, dangerous, frightened aura?_ Kate wondered.

Claire continued to back away, almost out of Kate's kitchen, when Kate stood.

"Claire, come here-"

But the instant Kate began to speak Claire staggered to her feet and sprinted as fast as she could around the corner. The young strawberry-blonde girl knew deep, deep, inside of her mind, that the idea of Kate and her parents planning all this out was insanely outrageous, but the shock, remorse, regret, surprise, sadness, and pain from finding out so suddenly after visiting her parents' in the hospital mere hours ago, that they were now announced dead. So she ran. She ran out onto Kate's fire escape, and still mentally overrun by thinking that she was going to be so suddenly abandoned by someone she loved again, she took off down the shaky metal stairs, taking two at a time. Kate's apartment room was only on the fourth floor, so once Claire reached halfway down the fire escape, she heard Kate and Serah above her, calling for her. Looking over her shoulder and panting, Claire saw Kate making a mad dash for her down the escape. Refusing to be caught, Claire continued running downwards, until she reached the bottom of the fire escape, where as Kate was on the second last flight of loud metal stairs.

_Clang, clang, clang_. It went, as Kate thundered after the young girl.

Claire looked for a way down frantically. In front of her, she spotted a metal ladder layered on top of itself, attached to the fire escape. Without a clue as to how to open the contraption, Claire began to punch (which quickly stopped, as the pain caused her to cry harder) and kick it, until finally it noisily slid down until it reached the damp alleyway ground it led to.

_Tch, tch, tch, clang. Bam._

Claire looked to her left. Kate was clanging down the flight of stairs she had just dashed down. Not missing a beat, Claire grabbed onto the ladder and placed her foot on a rung, and began to climb down. She looked up as she climbed, feeling a rain drop splat right on her red, bloodshot eye, causing her to gasp and flinch, letting go of the ladder in her shock.

"CLAIRE!" she heard Kate scream before she felt her right leg get caught in something, causing pain to rip through her leg, and her head to swing into something extremely hard. Then everything went black.

* * *

When she awoke, she realised she was lying in something rather soft and comfy. But moments after that she felt tremendous pain in her leg and head.

Groaning, she opened her eyes with difficulty. She was in an unfamiliar room, but it smelled like Kate's house. Putting two and two together, Claire guessed she was probably again in Kate's home.

"Ow..." she winced as she tried to move her head. The only thing she could see of the room was the bed she lay in, the puffy white covers that covered her, the dark green wall facing her, and the white framed rectangular window with thing white curtains on either side of it. The glass was blurred, and a quiet _tap, tap, tap, tap_ along with the fact that water was running down the glass in beads, told her it was raining out.

She stared out the window as she remembered the recent events that caused her to run out to the fire escape and attempt running away.

"That's right..." she muttered, closing her eyes as she felt tears threaten to spill again. "Mom and dad...died..." her voice cracked and went hoarse at the last word. She slowly remembered her theory of Charlotte and James 'claiming' to get a divorce on the account of her and Serah, leading to their possibly faked death. Claire felt overwhelming sadness. The fact that they were gone, and for good most likely, made Claire's heart fill with anger, depression, hate, sadness, remorse, and many other emotions until she felt like her heart would explode. She felt the urge to scream as loud as she could until her throat was ripped in half by someone, and she clenched her fists tightly. _This means that...it's just me and Serah now. No one else. Just two sisters. Just two Farrons left in the world. _Claire felt more tears well up in her eyes, but she refused to allow them to spill. Claire remembered how confused Serah was when the three of them left the hospital.

_"Why aren't mommy and daddy coming with us, auntie Kate?" Serah asked, tilting her head to the side._

_"Well, uhm..." Kate replied, hesitant. "They're...just going to rest at the hospital for a bit longer, until they're sure they're better, Serah. Think of it this way, Serah. If you checked into a hotel that gave you everything, wouldn't you want to stay there a little more than a day?"_

_Serah thought about that for a minute._

_"Well, yeah, I guess so!" she answered after a few minutes, cheerful and upbeat as usual._

"Sorry Serah, but mom and dad are going to stay at the hotel, permanently..." Claire grumbled, feeling feelings that were making her uncomfortable deep, deep down.

A loud clap of thunder from outside made Claire jump in surprise. From outside of the room she was in she heard Serah faintly yelp, and Kate say some reassuring words to her. Moments later, Claire's room was lit up by lightning, followed by more loud thunder.

"AH! Make it stop, aunt Kate, make it stop...where's onee-chan?" Serah whimpered outside Claire's room, making Claire's ears more alert.

"She's resting right now, Serah." Claire heard Kate reply softly. They sounded closer now.

"But Claire always protects me from thunder and lightning!" Serah whined, whimpering.

Claire stopped listening as Kate began to speak.

She had to be strong for Serah … but she couldn't do that if she was the weak and emotional Claire.

Lightning flashed in the sky, lighting up Kate's bedroom.

Claire looked up at the sky thoughtfully as it rumbled and was lit up again. _Lightning … it can't protect. Only destroy …_

Well … she _could_ destroy things. That's it! She'd destroy for Serah; to protect her. Keep her safe.

That was it. She'd become Lightning.

Lightning Farron.

* * *

**YES! FIRST UPDATE IN I-DON'T-KNOW-HOW-MANY-MONTHS!**

**And sorry it's been so long and the fact that this chapter is so pathetically short :/**

**Thank you so much for the reviews, I will reply to them in the foreseeable future. Also R&R this chapter if you thought it was satisfying please and thank you**

**Oh, and soon I may change my PenName, just a heads up. I don't know what to yet, but "Lightning Lockheart" is beginning to wear off on me. Also, I am brainstorming Chapter 8 of TWoLSaS (which if you look at it, you shall realise that Chptr 8 A/N is no longer existent :D)**

**I'M BACK IN THE WRITING BUISINESS, BABY!**

**...At least for now o.o**

**Oh, and if any of my readers enjoy Bleach, Naruto, or Higurashi/When They Cry, I am planning on writing one shots (except for Higurashi) sometime soon (though we all know when I say soon it can vary from a few days to months on end ._.)**

**Until next time! Pce yo**


	4. The Boy With The Chocobo Hair

**lkjflksjrglkjgg**

**I'm sorry for not updating for so long! (yes this is Lightning Lockheart)**

**If you've read my other FF story, you'd know my excuse for this. If you haven't then let me fill you in.**

**Alrighty, so, as I explained in my other fic, I had lost interest in Final Fantasy for a while, and just had no inspiration to continue on with this. I tried, but obviously, if your head isn't in the game, it's going to be really difficult to play successfully .. just like it was hard to continue writing this -.- But Christmas is coming up in less than five days, and I'm back into FF, not to mention I was re-inspired to continue this fic after reading a few H/HR stories for Harry Potter, so ...**

**MERRY CHRISTMAS AND I HOPE THIS LONG AWAITED UPDATE WILL MAKE UP FOR MY ABSENCE&LACK OF UPDATING.**

**The moment you have all been waiting for has finally arrived .. (: & Thank you all so much for your reviews!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own and of the FFs, they belong to Square Enix**

* * *

**Chapter 4  
The Boy With The Chocobo Hair**

The following week the two Farron sisters returned to school, Kate having finally broken the news to young Serah, who was no longer her perky self. Instead, the younger sister was very quiet and needy, always following her older sister around. This concerned Kate, who wasn't sure if this behavior was going to be permanent or not. She was desperate for the two children of her old now-deceased-friend to show positive emotions again – or any emotions at all for this matter. Claire – or 'Lightning' as she suddenly chose to go by, would stare out the window with an expression devoid of any emotion at all. Even when Kate tried to _purposely _irk the young eleven year old, she no longer would sport her trademark scowl and grunt in response. She barely ate, and Kate was beginning to have to resort to threats to get the child to eat. What made this even worse was Serah would then mimic her sister's actions.

Least to say, things weren't going well in the apartment of Kate Trudel lately. And to make it worse, the guardian of the two Farrons had been called down to the hospital nearly every day, and would return in either an angered or depressed state. When the two Farron children asked why she kept going back there, they were answered with silence.

It was the girls' first day back to school and Serah was more or less attached to her older sister's arm.

'Serah,' Kate sighed as she tried to pull the youngest Farron towards her section of the school, shoulders sagging as the pink haired girl only clutched her emotionless sister tighter. '_Please _let go of your sister!'

Serah shook her head wildly, burying her face in Claire's arm.

'No!' she exclaimed.

'Serah …' Kate sighed again, letting go of the younger girl as she tried to catch Claire's eye. 'Claire? Help me?' she asked hopefully, giving the girl a hopeful smile.

The oldest Farron continued to stare blankly at the school in front of her, almost as if the ravenette beside her had never spoken.

_Lightning. __Right._ Kate thought to herself, remembering the new name.

'Lightning?' she asked again, a little satisfied when the girl's azure orbs moved slightly in her direction, watching the older woman from the corner of her eye. 'Help me get Serah to class? You're both late as it is.'

The pink haired girl closed her eyes, inhaling deeply before nodding slightly. She opened her eyes again to look at her younger sister as she saw an unfamiliar truck pass by, going to park in the school parking lot.

'Serah,' Claire mumbled in a very quiet voice. Kate had noticed that the girl had seemed to spun into a deep depression after Charlotte and James had passed away about a week ago, and since then Kate had noticed the way the eleven year old acted had completely changed. Even her voice had. It seemed strangely cold for a child of her age, her voice getting a more husky edge to it while it deepened slightly. It was almost as if her depression wasn't weighing just her mind down, but her behavior and voice as well. 'C'mon, we got to go back to class. Let go.'

The younger girl looked up at her older sister with shining eyes, before hesitantly releasing her sister's arm.

Kate gave Claire a grateful smile, which the girl promptly ignored as she walked towards her school.

'Cl-Lightning,' Kate began, biting her tongue as she remembered the preferred name. 'I have to go take care of some things at the office, alright? You remember where your classes are right?'

Claire rolled her eyes.

'Obviously.' She muttered, before turning and walking down a nearby flight of stairs until she vanished from sight. Serah instantly moved to go after her but Kate grabbed her arm.

'Uh uh, Serah you're coming with me. C'mon now, let's go.'

Serah made a face and tried to pull her arm out of Kate's grip, failing instantly and sadly allowing herself to be dragged towards the Office.

^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

Claire dumped her bag and books in her locker, pulling out her needed books and notebooks before walking back to stare at the wooden door that read, _Room __24_ and the name _J.__Villacorte _below. Taking a deep breath, Claire cleared her mind of all thoughts and emotions, placing that mask she had molded for herself the past week. However, she had only tried that mask out around Kate and Serah. Now it was time to put it to the test. Placing a hand on the doorknob, the pink haired girl turned and opened the door, wincing on the inside as twenty five pairs of eyes turned on her in shock.

'Oh! Claire!' Ms. Villacorte gasped from in front of the chalkboard where she had been writing down the steps to cross multiplication. 'Welcome back! I, er, am sorry for your loss. We've all missed you! Right class?'

The teacher's words were greeted by silence and muffled snickers as Claire's classmates stared at her with resent.

Ms. Villacorte sighed, giving Claire an apologetic smile. 'Take a seat please, Claire.' Then turned back to the board, continuing on with the math lesson.

Claire grit her teeth as her 'old' name was mentioned, yet again. However, not wishing to cause a scene she walked to her old desk to see a piece of paper on her chair. Looking around at her classmates with narrowed eyes as they looked away quickly, glancing back frequently, Claire picked it up as she sat down in her chair, turning the paper over. On it, harsh words covered every inch of the page. '_Go __cry __in __a __corner __and __cut __yourself__'_, one read. Another said, '_You __stupid __ass, __go __eat __a __piece __of __poo!__'_ Anger and hurt welled up in her chest, however she just stared emotionlessly at the paper, before discarding it over her shoulder and staring at the chalk board ahead.

'_Hey!_' growled one of her classmates on her right. '_Hey!_' the boy repeated, making Claire turn her gaze on him. 'How're your parents?' he taunted. 'Dead? Aw, is poor wittle Fawwon gonna go cwy in duh bathwoom?' the boy, Michael Burton, let out a loud snort that Mrs. Villacorte chose to ignore, as did Claire as she turned her gaze back to the board.

'Oi! Farron! Are you gonna sit there an' ignore us like a little baby?' whispered the boy behind her, John Cruz. Claire could feel her control on her emotions begin to slip from her grasp just when there was a knock on the door. John instantly pretended to be paying attention to their teacher, no longer bothering Claire.

The door opened to reveal Principal Callaghan and a boy with long spiked blond hair and dark blue eyes. The boy's hair was messy and tied back into a little ponytail with a green elastic, while he wore rather worn and tattered clothing. He held some school books in his arms, and looked like he would pass out any moment from the amount of eyes on him.

'Oh! Hello Mr. Callaghan!' exclaimed Ms. Villacorte as she looked at the boy in surprise. 'I wasn't expecting the new student so soon!'

_New __student?_ Claire thought, eyeing the boy carefully now. Upon quick inspection, the pink haired girl realized she had never seen the boy in her life before. However, his worn out appearance did remind her of that unfamiliar truck she had seen earlier. Wait a minute that was probably him! Now slightly interested, Claire inspected the blond.

He was about her height, at 5ft. 2 with a very lanky and thin physique. The boy had slightly tanned skin, a few shades darker than Claire's own pale skin. His eyes showed every emotion he seemed to be feeling; anxiety, nervousness, anticipation, more anxiety, and slight excitement. They shined in a way that was reminiscent of Serah's. He wore a dark green shirt that appeared to have been tossed in the mud and rolled around in; leaving it five shades darker than it should have been with permanent mud splatters all over it. His trousers were a matching dark green with large tears and rips, seeming a size or two too large for him. However, the strangest thing about him was his spiky blond hair that resembled a chocobo.

With a huff, Claire tore her gaze away from the worn boy and directed her attention to the window on her right.

'Class, this is our new student. I hope you'll all be good to him.' She heard Mrs. Villacorte say in a stern tone, earning a dreary chorus of _'__yes, __Mrs. __Villacorte__'_ from Claire's classmates.

'Introduce yourself, please?' Mrs. Villacorte added.

Claire allowed herself to look back at the boy who fidgeted nervously and looked down at the tiled floor that was getting slowly dirtier by the second where he stood.

'I, uh, er, um, my name is … Cloud. Cloud Strife.' He finally managed to say in a quiet husky voice.

Claire tried to hold back a giggle as the rest of her classmates let out snorts of laughter and snickers earning a reproachful glare from both the teacher and principal. Cloud however looked down at the ground with a sad expression, his face reddening quickly.

'Shh!' Mr. Callaghan bellowed, expression angry which made the class go dead silent in moments. 'Cloud, there's an empty seat beside Ms. Farron over there. Good day everyone,'

'Good day Mr. Callaghan,' the students chorused back as Mrs. Villacorte smiled warmly at Cloud before returning to her lesson. All eyes turned upon the shy blond and the classroom was filled with murmurs again as Cloud awkwardly made his way towards Claire, who felt extremely unlucky at that moment. Dirt trailed behind the boy, clumps of soil falling from his clothing. It looked like he hadn't bathed in days, or had rolled around in a sandbox before he entered the room.

Cloud finally made his way to the seat beside Claire, who instantly moved her chair over in the opposite direction a little bit. She tried to avoid looking his way, but was finding it difficult with the eyes of her classmates on her and the new boy, unblinking.

'I'm Cloud.' The boy muttered beside her, dark blue eyes looking shyly up at her through his lashes as he fumbled with his hands, his books on the floor between Claire and him.

Claire responded with a grunt and a nod, looking back at Mrs. Villacorte. In the corner of her eye, she could see the blond deflate at the rejection, his big blue eyes wide with hurt before returning to normal and slouching in his seat.

The rest of the lesson passed slowly, when the recess bell rang blissfully.

'Alright class, recess time!' Mrs. Villacorte called out, cheers of joy drowning her out as everyone leapt out of their chairs and dashed to the door. 'Oh, Claire? A word please.' The dark haired teacher added as she spotted the pink haired girl.

Cloud walked past Claire quickly, gaze on the floor the whole time as he left the classroom, leaving teacher and student alone.

'Take a seat, please, Claire.' She said, smiling slightly at the younger female.

Wordlessly, Claire took a seat, grimacing at the sound of her name. It didn't sound right anymore. Almost alien. Lightning. Lightning Farron. That sounded much more grown-up and mature, as opposed to Claire Farron.

'So I understand that your parents have died in a, erm, car crash, am I correct?' Mrs. Villacorte asked a little awkwardly.

Claire remained silent, and looked down at the floor. She could feel the urge to cry well up in her, for she was still not used to hearing the reality of her parents' passing. However, she bit it back, and thought of how she wished to be tougher, and take on the name _Lightning._

'You know, Claire, if you're ever feeling troubled about your loss you can always speak to me or Mr. Callaghan about it.'

Claire gritted her teeth and muttered, 'Thank you.' Before getting up and exiting the classroom, not wanting to stay any longer. She knew that if she accepted the offer, physiatrists and all of those types of annoying sort of people would be on her in a second.

The pink haired girl dashed out the recess doors, and into the recess yard where the children who were walking around, playing, screaming, and chasing each other were. Claire took a deep breath and looked around for her sister. Before they had gone to their school, Serah had approached her elder sister and shyly asked her to go to her at recess every now and then and talk to her.

Looking around, Claire spotted her sister. Suddenly, the girl froze as anger surged through her. Serah was backed against a wall, expression terrified and scared as the two boys who loved to antagonize Claire in class, Michael and John, cornered her, jeering at the Farron all the while.

Claire growled at the two boys, sprinting over instantly and pulling Serah behind her.

'Stop it. Now.' she hissed, eyes burning with hate as she glared at her two classmates.

Michael and John laughed.

'Why should we?' John leered, sneering at the two Farrons as Michael cracked his knuckles with a dark grin. 'We're both black belts in karate. Why should we be scared of a two pathetic orphans?'

Serah began to cry into Claire's back at the boy's mean words, causing Claire to grit her teeth as she felt her own eyes water. _No! __I'm __stronger __than __this!_ She thought angrily, gritting her teeth. _I __have __to __protect __Serah __- __and __keep __my __parents __honor!_

'I'm warning you, stop. Now.' the girl ground out, her vision getting more and more blurry by the second.

Michael snorted.

'No way. Listen, move outta the way, you whiney little ass wipe! Just let us have a minute alone with your crybaby sister and then you can both go cry with your dead little parents.'

Claire snapped. Tears stubbornly leaking out of her eyes against her will, the older Farron launched herself at Michael, knocking the startled boy to the ground with a loud thud.

'Claire!' Serah gasped, shocked as she jumped back a step so that she bumped into the brick wall behind her as the two Grade fours rolled around on the ground, Michael shouting wildly at Claire.

'What the hell? Get off of me you stupid little -' Michael began, when Claire managed to pin him down, interrupting his sentence with a medium-strength punch to the jaw. Before the girl could draw her fist back again, John tackled the girl off of his friend, who was now sporting a bloody nose. John punched Claire repeatedly in the stomach, forcing the girl to struggle to breathe as she was winded repeatedly.

'Help!' shouted Serah, as she earned half the yard's attention, however there were no teachers who heard her screams.

John laughed a little as he shakily got up off of Claire, who was panting and groaning on the ground in a fetal position as tears leaked from her eyes. 'Hah .. hah … hah … that'll teach you … to .. mess … with … us …' he panted, giving another swift kick to the pink haired girl on the ground.

'Leave her alone!' shouted a husky voice.

Claire peaked out from her defensive position to see the boy with the chocobo hair that the principal had introduced her class to.

Michael, now standing beside John, let out a bark of laughter as a small group of children began to circle the five students, watching them with interest. 'Oh yeah?' he asked, smirking as he wiped away some blood that leaked from his nose. 'Who's going to make us?'

The blond boy hesitated for a moment, then looked down as he bit his lip.

John laughed. 'Haha, too chicken huh? Actually - y'know what? I'm going to call you Chicken from now on, because of your hair!' Michael snickered.

'Hahaha, _Chicken! __Here __Chicken! __Bawk, __bawk, __bawk, __ba-__ '_ suddenly Michael was knocked back to the pavement as Cloud launched himself at the boy, and punched him hard in the jaw. However, the boy lost his footing and tumbled on top of the other.

John jumped back in surprise, tripping over Claire who took the opportunity to grab his leg and yank him to the ground beside her, the two once again rolling on top of each other in an effort to get in top.

Serah let out a squeal retreated a little bit away, desperate to leave the fight yet not wanting to abandon her sister.

Suddenly, a deep booming voice shouted, 'STOP IT. ALL OF YOU. RIGHT NOW.'

Claire flinched from the loud noise, letting go of John's shoulders as she sat up. A little behind her, Principal Callaghan was standing over the five of them, face red as a tomato. Claire could easily visualize steam pouring from the man's nostrils and ears, and shrank back instantly.

Suddenly Michael squeaked, 'They started it, Mr. Callaghan! Me and John were just walking by and _she_ just went crazy!'

Claire whipped around to see Cloud staring at a bloodied and rumpled Michael, who was now standing up.

'No!' she protested, her eyes feeling prickly with tears as she looked back at the principal who was giving her a look she didn't like. She didn't want to get in trouble! What would Kate say? This wasn't even her fault! 'They started it! Not me!'

'Liar!' shouted John, who was faking tears now as he wiped them away. However, Claire could practically feel the smirk radiating off of him.

'Mr. Callaghan, sir, they're both lying. I swear!' piped up the husky voice that belonged to the chocobo haired boy a little behind Claire, earning himself a stern glare from the principal.

'How, Mr. Strife, did you get involved in this?'

Claire turned to look at Cloud, and the two of them locked eyes for a moment before Cloud looked back at the principal.

'Well sir, these guys were harassing, er … these two girls, and then they started hitting and kicking her.' Cloud gestured to Claire, who realized that the blond haired boy didn't have a clue to who any of them were, principal aside. The pink haired girl's heart lightened a little, as she realized that he had came to help her and Serah, even though he didn't know them. No one besides Kate had ever done that for her. It felt nice.

Staring at Cloud for a few moments, before looking to the whimpering Serah, and finally to the bruised girl with a split lip on the ground in front of him, then to Michael and John, the principal said, 'I'll take your word on this then, young man. Burton! Cruz! My office _now_. The three of you, return to class please.' The principal instructed harshly, his eyes flashing as he marched the injured bullies back into the school.

Looking around, Claire realized that the crowd around them had dissipated, and that no one was outside anymore. Recess must've ended.

'Are you okay, Serah?' the eleven year old sister asked instantly, gingerly getting to her feet. Her ribs were sore and screaming from the movement, but nothing was broken. Her face hurt like crazy and her legs. Everywhere hurt, really.

The younger Farron nodded and looked down at the ground. 'I'm sorry I got you in trouble almost, Claire.' She whispered, before giving her sister a gentle hug and running into the school, leaving her sister to frown after her, confused.

'Er, are you alright?' said a voice from behind her, making the girl jump in shock. She had forgotten Cloud was there, and felt slightly guilty for forgetting him. He _had_ saved her neck, after all.

'Uh, yeah, thanks for … helping me back there.' Claire replied awkwardly, avoiding looking him in the eyes.

Cloud shifted his weight from one foot to the other, obviously feeling just as awkward as Claire did. 'No problem.' He said simply.

There was a tense silence for a few moments before Claire brought herself to speak up. 'Uhhmm, we should probably get back to class then, I guess?'

Cloud nodded quickly, stuffing his hands in his dark green trouser pockets.

The two eleven year olds walked into the building, an awkward silence following them from outside. Once they reached the hallway where their classroom was, Cloud asked,

'Your name's Claire, right?' after seeing the girl in question's sudden death glare, he added, 'I, er, heard your sister – Serah? – call you that.'

Claire stared at the boy for a few more moments wondering whether to confirm her own name or not. She could _choose_ her name now; this boy didn't know her. This could be one of the first steps to becoming not Claire, but _Lightning._ Someone who could protect Serah. Someone who could take care of herself, and maybe even be popular if she tried hard enough. Finally, the pinkette replied, 'No, she gets confused sometimes. That's her imaginary friend's name. My name's Lightning.'

Cloud cocked his head a little. 'Lightning?' he repeated, blond eyebrows furrowing a little.

Claire nodded vigorously.

'That's a cool name,' he grinned, flashing bright white teeth at Claire. She hadn't seen him smile until now, and she had to admit it looked good on him.

'Thanks, so is Cloud.' She grinned back, feeling happy for the first time in many weeks. _So _this _is __what __it __feels __like __to __be __a ccepted!_ Claire thought happily. It was a great feeling, one she had never really felt before.

The boy's grin grew wider, before he stopped outside of their classroom door. Offering his hand to her, a serious expression replaced the grin on his face. 'Er, do you wanna be friends?' he asked, a blush flowing into his cheeks as he looked down at the ground nervously.

Claire stiffened as her grin fell off of her face. A friend? Slowly, the sides of Claire's mouth raised as she took Cloud's hand in hers, shaking it. 'Sure!' she replied, a little shakily.

_A __friend?_ She wondered, watching as the boy with Chocobo hair's face lit up.

'Awesome!' he exclaimed in a hushed voice, knowing that their classmates and teacher would be able to hear them outside if they were too loud.

With a completely different perspective on how the day was going to go, as well as the rest of her life, Claire walked into the classroom with a small smile on her face, too overwhelmed with happiness to rein in her emotions as Cloud trailed behind her, looking equally as happy. The two ignored the gasps and baffled expressions of their classmates and the dropped jaw of their teacher as they took their seats, covered in dirt, bruises, and in Claire's case, a slightly bloodied lip.

Right now, both kids were the happiest they could be.

They had a _friend._

* * *

**R&R? (:**

**Were they out of character, in character? (Keep in mind they're eleven, and nothing bad has happened to Cloud _yet_, meaning he isn't closed off or anything. Just the quiet little spiky haired boy I'd imagine he'd be :))**

**If you have any critism, suggestions, _anything_, tell me!**

**-LC**


	5. The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

**Bahhh I haven't updated in ages, and this is the second time I've had to write this author's note because my enet failed when I saved it -.-' So, I'll give you all the short version of my excuse.**

**SO, a few weeks back my 9yr old dog who I got at a young age began coughing up blood and foam. Basically, we took her to the vets and she either has: -Fungal Pneumonia -Bacterial Pneumonia -Lung Cancer. And since it costs 1k+ to do tests on her to see which one she has, my parents decided to just let her progress as she would without antibiotics and all that. We got meds for her cough, but thats it - the good thing is, she's making a remarkable comeback. So, her condition has been taking its toll on me and like usual a ton of personal issues along with my dog's illness are making my grades sink at a horrifying speed, my social life become that of a rock's, and I've had no time to do anything lately -.-'**

**Anyways, I've been rushing to get this chappie up for a while, but whenever i tried my enet died, 's login was down - OH yes, my laptop had been infected with viruses galore as well T_T but theyre stored away in files, so i'm terrified to click anything (the file is a photo that I can't find, not this file).**

**Also, thank you so sososososososo much for sticking with this fic and reviewing!**

**I'll stop rambling now. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 5  
Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship**

Kate noticed, over the week, a change in Claire's behavior. She had gotten a call from the school principal the first day the two Farrons had gone back to school and was informed of Claire's fight with two boys in her class. The dark haired woman had been prepared to give the oldest sibling a firm talking to, but had been too shocked to see the girl in a better mood and _socializing _with someone her age outside of the school doors before she left. Kate had kept a close eye on the girl's sudden mood change, and decided not to chew her out for the fight the principal said she hadn't started.

Some of the ever so slight improvements that Kate found in Claire were her sudden fondness of school. It wasn't obsessive, but when it came time to wake up the two siblings in the morning, Kate found that Claire seemed to try and speed up the process of getting ready, and would be at the door quicker each morning. The girl would also seem slightly disappointed when Kate came to pick her and Serah up after school each day, but would seem rather happy at the same time.

One thing that Kate noticed was normality every five days of the week?

There would be a blue eyed, spiky blond haired boy dressed in clothes that seemed a little too big and a baggy beside Claire whenever Kate came to pick up, or drop off the girl.

Hit by a sudden realization that made Kate smile widely whenever she saw the two together, she realized that Claire, who she had been told had never befriended anyone, finally had a friend of her own.

X

X

Claire tried to contain her excitement as Kate's black Civic came to a halt in the parking lot of her school. Over the past week, she and Cloud had hung out together every day at school. At first, it was awkward and it felt like they were walking on eggshells, both of the eleven year olds to shy and unsure to speak. However, during math class of their second day of friendship, Cloud had been stuck on a long division question. Too shy to ask the teacher, and afraid of his fellow classmates ridiculing stares, the blue eyed boy had nervously asked Claire for help.

**Flashback  
**_'Lightning?' he whispered, his cheeks reddening at an alarming rate as he bit the inside of his cheek._

_His friend appeared to not have heard him, forcing Cloud to blush harder as he poked her with the end of his pencil, effectively gaining the girl's attention._

'_What?' she whispered back, frowning. She wanted to get back to her math work so she wouldn't have to take it home for homework._

'_Er, c-can you h-help me with th-this question?' Cloud stammered, sliding his paper over to the edge of his desk and pointing at a question._

_Glancing over the question, Claire nodded. It was an easy one, one she had already completed._

'_Thanks, Lightning.' He sighed in relief, his cheeks still bright red.  
_**End Flashback**

Afterwards, Cloud began to get more and more comfortable with asking his friend questions, thus bringing them closer together. Soon, they would spend their recesses playing tag or just sitting together and talking as they broke the ice between them. Claire learned that Cloud had come from the country side far away, and his hometown was called 'Nibelheim'. She asked him about his family to which he replied with a shrug and said no more after that.

'So you got to ride chocobos and stuff?' Claire asked in awe during third recess, a week later.

The two friends were sitting on the field in a corner by a fence, where not as many children ran by. The old grouchy man that lived on the opposite side of the fence despised children, and tended to curse and shout at them whenever they ran by or made too much noise. When soccer balls and footballs landed in his yard, it didn't make him much happier to see a broken vase and a little kid crawl through or over his fence to retrieve the toy.

Cloud blushed slightly but grinned at her sheepishly.

'Yeah! Well, er, kind of. I used to live on a farm 'till I moved to Nibelheim when I was eight. Our Chocobo was named 'Willy'.'

'I've never seen a chocobo before.' Claire muttered, frowning as she looked down at the ground. What would it be like? She knew chocobos were big and friendly, but _how_ big? Were they so big they could step on you? Could they eat you? What _did_ chocobos eat anyways?

Cloud's jaw dropped eyes wide. 'You've never seen a chocobo?' he demanded.

The pink haired girl shook her head.

'Ya know my mom let me bring Willy here. We bought a house with a huge pen in the back out of the city so we could keep him,'

Claire's eyes shot up to look at her spiky haired friend in awe. He brought his chocobo here? To Bodhum? People rarely saw chocobos in the city; in fact, nobody _ever_ saw chocobos in the city! The pink haired girl listened eagerly, feeling something good was about to happen.

'And, er,' Cloud seemed to lose all of the excitement he had had speaking about Willy the chocobo as he looked around the recess yard with a slight blush on his cheeks. 'Er, you could, uh, _come over_ and see h-him, if y-you w-wanted t-to …'

Now it was Claire's turn for her jaw to drop and her eyes to bug out.

W-was this the type of stuff she saw happen on television? When friends go to each other's houses? It had to be, right? Realizing this made Claire burst with emotions she had shut out for the past month, since that day at the hospital. She felt giddy, happy, excited, shocked, nervous, and much more emotions explode within her.

Seeing Claire's still frozen expression, Cloud blushed darker and hung his head, his blond spiky hair flopping this way and that as it seemed to wilt.

'Sorry,' he muttered. 'it was a stupid thing to as – NYAEH!' he yelped as he was knocked over by a sudden and violent hug from his pink haired friend. 'I – wha – uh – eh?' he spluttered, startled by the sudden and extraordinarily uncharacteristic action.

Claire blushed sixteen different shades of red into her friend's shoulder as she fought to contain her sudden emotions. She felt more embarrassed than she ever had in her life at this moment, but her body had acted without her approval and reacted the way every person does when someone makes them happy – and hugged a startled Cloud.

Deciding she might as well spit out what her mind was currently screaming with happiness, Claire nodded frantically and muttered, 'yes' a few times. Thankfully for her, Cloud heard her and stopped his thrashing, his face reddening again as he grinned sheepishly.

At that moment, the old man who lived behind where the two were hugging chose to step out of his home. Instantly, he became enraged as he saw the scene play out before him.

'HEY! YOU LITTLE BRATS!' he hollered making Claire flinched and broke away from Cloud instantly, her eyes widening as she saw the man and jumped to her feet. 'STOP MESSIN' ABOUT IN FRONT OF MY BACKYARD!'

With a yelp, Claire darted away from the fence and back towards the school, shouting, 'EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF!'

Eyes wide, Cloud whimpered and crawled backwards frantically as he tried to stand as the man on the other side of the fence advanced towards him, brandishing his fist. 'SCRAM YA LITTLE F-'

Cloud let out a loud yelp and manage to spin around and get to his feet, sprinting as fast as he could after his pink haired friend.

X

X

'Traitor!' he huffed as he and Claire stood outside of the school at 3:15 later that day with Serah as they both waited for their ride home.

Now long over the hug she had given Cloud, Claire had her tough, cold demeanor back. She snorted, smirking slightly as Serah held onto her right arm.

'Maybe you _shouldn't_ come over and see Willy.' Grumbled Cloud, making Claire flinch inwardly at his words as she struggled to come up with a witty response while covering up her shocked and now upset feelings.

'Maybe I didn't _want_ to see Willy.' She grumbled back through grit teeth.

The two friends and Serah stood in tense silence for a few minutes, until Kate's black Civic came into view and pulled up in front of them.

'Hey guys! Ready to go?' she asked in an upbeat tone.

Serah nodded vigorously as a smile broke across her face and she ripped open the car door and scrambled into the back seats. Claire tossed her bag into the back seat and closed the door, reaching for the passenger seat when Cloud broke the silence between them.

'Wait!' he exclaimed, getting Claire to turn around and frown at him, her hand on the handle of the door. 'I mean, er, I didn't mean what I said earlier. Would you still want to .. you know .. s-see W-Willy?' he stammered, looking down at his shoes.

Claire blanched. She thought he had been serious earlier!

'I – uh – yeah, sure.' She said after a moment, then looked back at Kate who had a strange expression on. It seemed smug almost.

'Er, c-could you ask?'

Blinking a few times, Claire frowned slightly and nodded. She had forgot about that. Opening the passenger door, she leaned into the car and said, 'Kate? Could I go to my friend's house sometime this week?'

Kate's smirk widened slightly as her jade green eyes flicked back from Claire to Cloud who saw her stare and looked away quickly, fumbling with the bottom of his shirt. 'Sure. I just need his address and phone number, and you two can decide on a day.'

The pink haired eleven year old managed to force her excitement down, and keep her face devoid of all emotions. _I've lost control enough already today,_ she thought. _I'm supposed to be strong now – I'm supposed to be _Lightning_. _With that in mind, Claire muttered her thanks to Kate and pulled her head out of the car to tell Cloud the news.

'Kate says sure, I just need your address and phone number.'

Cloud's eyes widened in surprise. 'Really? Cool! I mean, uh, one sec ..' the blue eyed boy pulled his backpack off of his shoulders and placed it on the ground, and quickly began searching in it. Finally, he pulled out some crumpled lined paper and a black pen, and scribbled in his messy writing the information Kate required. 'Here!' he said, handing it to Claire.

The pink haired girl looked at it, reading,

_125 Tide Avenue_

_289-966-xxxx_

'Thanks,' she said with a slight grin, trying to keep her excitement at bay. She had gone into the habit of acting nearly completely emotionless around her sister and guardian.

'Not a problem. Uh, I suppose I'll see you tomorrow then?' he asked a little awkwardly.

Lightning nodded her head.

'Yeah, I got to go now. See you around, Cloud!' she said as she climbed into Kate's car.

The spiky blond haired boy grinned sheepishly, waving shyly as they drove away.

X

X

It was Saturday morning and Lightning was sitting in front of Kate's apartment waiting for the said guardian to finish getting ready to drive her to Cloud's. The eleven year old was dressed in her usual sort of attire; light blue jeans, and a red t-shirt. She fidgeted with strands of her pink-colored hair as she sat impatiently on the curb.

_This is the first time I've ever been to someone's house. _She thought to herself, feeling extremely nervous.

'Alright Lightning, let's go, yeah?' Kate asked with a grin as she emerged from her apartment with Serah in tow. The younger sibling was too young to stay in the older woman's apartment alone, and was dragged along as a result. However, since it had to do with Claire, Serah was more than happy to come along with her guardian and sister.

Trying to calm her nerves, Claire nodded once as she walked over to Kate's car and climbed into the front seat.

A few moments later, the adoptive family was driving along the main street as Kate followed the directions that her GPS spat out at her last second. After a few moments of absolute silence, save for the irritated murmurs of Kate when she had to switch lanes at the last moment, Serah piped up.

'Uh, sis?' she asked a little timidly as she clutched her stuffed toy moogle that she had brought along for the ride.

Claire looked away from the window and turned to look at her sister, giving her a questioning stare.

'What're you gonna do at your friend's house?'

Claire shrugged, just as Kate joined the conversation.

'Yeah second littlest Farron, whatcha gonna do over there?' teased Kate just before she let out a low curse as her GPS instructed her to take a right turn, forcing her to suddenly swerve the car right. 'Stupid thing …' she grumbled.

Inside, Claire really wanted to just ignore them, but her nervousness and excitement made her want to tell someone. So, against her will, she quickly said, 'He has a real live chocobo at his house called Willy and he's gonna show him to me and I've never ever seen a real live chocobo before and I -' Claire said all of this rather quickly, her enthusiasm leaking into her speech. She was suddenly cut off by unexpected laughter.

Blinking, she looked at Kate, kicking herself for showing her excitement.

'Bahahahahaha!' Kate snorted as she looked back to grin at Claire, and then back at the road. 'You must've said all of that in less than five seconds! Bahahaha!'

For the rest of the ride, Claire had a scowl on her face as she stared out the window.

X

X

After a couple more minutes, the silver civic car pulled up in front of a worn-down looking house on a dusty road. The house seemed to be made entirely out of wood, giving it a cottage feel. It was small and looked like it had two floors, and behind it a farm was visible in a large field, as well as a rather large fenced off area.

'Buh-bye Claire!' Serah exclaimed as Claire climbed out of the car, not at all bothered by the slight glare her sister gave her at the sound of her birth name.

'Wait a sec, Lightning.' Kate called, as she rolled down the window of the passenger door to talk to the eleven year old who had no choice but to walk to the front of the car and listen to her guardian. Giving the girl a slight smirk, Kate said, 'First, some ground rules. One, no fooling around -'

Claire's face became tomato red. 'N-n-no! I'm not st-stupid!' she spluttered, feeling horribly awkward and embarrassed.

Snorting, Kate flashed a grin at the girl and shook her head. 'Nah, I know you won't. But hey, listen, in the car a few minutes ago, I was just teasing you. It's nice to see you so excited for once.' She said with a sincere smile.

Claire blinked and nodded, scowling a little.

'Alrighty then! Go flirt with that friend of yours already! Peace out!' Kate shouted as she suddenly threw the car in reverse and sped away, not giving Claire enough time to process her words until she was gone.

'I – wait – what? _KATE_!' the pink haired girl shouted suddenly, face becoming red again.

'Uhm, Lightning? What're you doing?' said a familiar voice from behind her.

Claire spun around to see Cloud staring at her curiously from the front door, dressed in beige cargo shorts and a dark blue shirt, his blond hair as spiky and messy as ever.

'Er, nothing.' Claire said with a shrug as she walked towards her friend a little awkwardly.

'You're weird,' said Cloud with a timid grin as he shook his head slightly. 'Come on in!'

Face reddening slightly, Claire nodded and walked into the small house.

Once inside of the house, Claire truly felt like she was at a cottage. It smelled of pine trees and everything in sight seemed to be made of wood. Claire began to slip off her sneakers in front of the door before Cloud stopped her.

'Oh, you can bring your shoes Lightning,' he said before she could take off her right one. 'We're going straight out to the barn.' He explained, seeing her confused expression.

Scooping up her sneakers, the strawberry blonde followed Cloud further into his house. On the right side of the hallway was a door – probably a bathroom or a closet. On the left were numerous photos of what looked like Cloud as a little boy and his parents.

'Hey, mum! My friend's here!' Cloud called into the house, as he led the other eleven year old into his kitchen. The floors were tiled and were a dark sea green that seemed almost black.

'Oh, hello there!' exclaimed a woman's voice as Cloud and Claire turned around. A woman around in early to mid thirties stood in the hallway. Her hair was a bit darker than Cloud's, and was up in a messy bun. Her eyes were the same color as Cloud's were, and twinkled with happiness. She wore an old-style red dress and an apron. 'You're name is Lightning, right?' she asked with a smile.

'Er, y-yes ma'am,' the suddenly shy eleven year old managed to say, her nerves returning. What was she supposed to say to Cloud's mother? What was she supposed to call her? How was she supposed to behave?

The older woman in front of her laughed softly. 'No need for formalities, dear. Call me Roxanne or Mrs. Strife is you really wish to sound formal.'

Cloud looked from his mother to Claire, the corners of his lips curling upwards slightly in amusement.

Claire nodded once, bowing slightly. 'A-alright ma – I mean, Roxanne.' She stammered slightly; face pinking slightly as she tried to calm her nerves.

Roxanne laughed again before turning to Cloud, her expression hardening slightly. 'Be careful with Willy, don't let him out of the ring, if you ride him only make him walk, and when you're done put him back in the barn and feed him, alright?'

'I will, mum.' Cloud said with an eager nod before turning to Claire. 'Let's go!'

Soon, the two friends were walking towards a large barn, a rather foul smell hitting the unsuspecting Claire, making her gag a little.

'Oh, uh, sorry about that, I guess the city smell's a lot different,' the spiky blond said apologetically, wincing slightly at Claire's expression. 'It's worse inside, so, you wait here and I'll go get Willy.' He said before sprinting towards the barn doors and slipping inside, disappearing from Claire's sight, leaving her to stand awkwardly in front of the large building and attempt to get used to the smell.

A few minutes later, Cloud emerged from the barn again, gesturing for her to follow her to the side of it where she could see the large fenced off area she had spotted upon her arrival. Jogging after Cloud, the strawberry blonde gasped in surprise as she spotted a large bird standing in the middle, watching them with bright eyes. It had to be five times the size of Claire, with a large beak and long legs. A brown collar was visible on its neck, which after the two eleven year olds got closer, Claire could make out the letters, _W, I, L, L, Y._ Willy.

'...Wow.' was all Claire could say as Cloud unlocked the fence door and allowed Claire to walk through it, following her in afterwards and locking the door.

'He's real friendly,' Cloud said with a grin as he snapped his fingers and whistled loudly. 'C'mere Willy!' he called.

The large chocobo stared at him and began to trot towards them.

Despite not wanting to seem weak or scared, Claire shuffled a little behind Cloud, who blushed a little before smiling slightly as Willy approached them.

'He doesn't bite,' he told her as he raised a hand up to the bird's beak and stroked it, the bird making a strange humming noise and closed its eyes.

Face reddening slightly, Claire peeked out from behind Cloud and hesitantly raised her hand to the chocobo's beak, just as Cloud was doing. Slowly, she placed her hand on its beak, and let it stay there for a moment. _He won't bite you,_ she thought as she recalled Cloud's words, and began to pet it.

'Kweh!' Willy squawked happily.

Cloud grinned at her, surprising her slightly. It wasn't a timid grin, or a bashful one, or a shy one. It was genuine grin. Claire half-grinned back at him, still a little taken aback that he was acting more natural around her.

Suddenly, Cloud said, 'Hey, wanna ride him?'

Claire blinked as she looked up at the huge bird. 'Uh … I don't think I can …' she said uncertainly.

'Here, I'll help you, c'mere,' Cloud said as he took hold of Claire's wrist and pulled her over to the side of Willy. 'Willy, down.' He said strongly, shocking Claire a little more. She was so used to his timid and awkward behavior … but then again, he still was acting a little awkward, and his voice still held that tone of uncertainty in it. Thinking about it for a few more seconds, Claire decided that because they were friends, they should be comfortable around each other. …Right?

The chocobo glanced at Cloud before bending down so that the top of his back was visible.

'Okay, so, you get on like this,' said the spiky haired boy as he placed his foot carefully over a spot on Willy's wing that didn't seem to affect the great bird and hoisted himself up onto it's back. 'Got it?' he asked as he looked down at the strawberry blonde.

'Er, yeah.' Claire nodded, wanting to seem like she knew what she was doing. If she didn't, well, that would just be embarrassing. Hesitantly putting her hands on the bird's back, she placed her foot where Cloud had and pulled herself up successfully – until she lost her balance. Cloud's hand quickly wrapped around her wrist, pulling her back onto the back of the chocobo as she leaned a little too far off the bird.

'That was close,' Claire huffed as she tried to stay on Willy.

'Wark! Kweh!'

Cloud smiled slightly at her over his shoulder and scratched his head a little awkwardly. 'Aha, uh, yeah. So, to get him to go forwards you do this …'

Soon, Willy was walking around his 'pen' as Cloud had called it at a slow pace – the only pace Claire had felt comfortable with. After a few minutes, the girl had agreed to go a little faster and soon the chocobo was happily trotting about. Suddenly, it seemed that Willy desired a faster pace, and broke out into a run.

Cloud was used to the speed, however Claire wasn't – and as she let out a yelp of surprise her arms latched around the closest object to keep her anchored on the bird's back. That object happened to be Cloud's waist. The blond's face instantly flushed red as he held onto the feathers on Willy's neck. After a few seconds, Claire realized what she was doing and went rigid, but still didn't let go as Willy raced about the pen. Finally, when the bird seemed to have gotten bored, he slowed into a trot, and Claire released her hold on Cloud as he instructed the bird to stop and bend down once more. Face still red, he helped Claire down before jumping off himself.

'Er …'

'Uh …'

The two friends stared at the ground, feeling incredibly awkward, Claire more than Cloud. She had just hugged Cloud. _Hugged. _She had never hugged a boy before! Never mind that, but she felt awkward hugging her own family and Kate! _Oh Maker_ … she thought as she eternally face palmed herself.

'I sh-should probably put Willy a-away now ...' Cloud mumbled keeping his head down as he walked over to Willy and led him over to the barn doors. 'You just, er, wait there, alright?'

Claire nodded as she watched him open up the barn doors and disappear.

A few minutes later, Cloud reappeared with a number of chocobo feathers on his head that blended in easily with his spiky hair and a slight scowl on his face.

'He threw a fit when I tried to get him in his pen.' He explained seeing Claire's expression. He glanced up at the sky. 'The sun's starting to set,' he said in a shocked tone.

Claire looked around and saw that their surroundings were noticeably darker. How hadn't they noticed? 'Oh yeah,' she said stupidly, not knowing what else to say. 'I should probably go home now, actually,' she said as an afterthought. _Kate's never going to stop teasing me if I stay here late!_

'Mm. I'll lend you our phone to call her, follow me.' He said as he jogged towards the house.

Claire was about to run after him when she realized – she had just been to someone's house. Her heart rate picked up a little as she realized this. She, Claire – no – Lightning Farron had gone to a _friend's _house. And it wasn't just any friend, it was Cloud. This … this had to mean they were good friend then, right? Not just acquaintances? Happiness burst exploded inside of Claire like a balloon popping. To her, going to Cloud's house and actually having some fun sealed the deal on their friendship. Her _first ever _friendship.

With a grin plastered on her face, Claire sprinted after her friend, catching him by surprise when she dashed past him at a shocking speed, laughing at him in the process.

'H-hey!' he shouted, startled as he tried to run after her. 'No fair! You didn't tell me we were racing!'

Claire merely laughed at him in response.

* * *

**I know I know, I rushed the ending and thus made it rather awkwardly ... sorry, but I really wanted to get this chapter up tonight :l**

**Also, the Claire-grabbing-Cloud-scene I struggled to write. Knowing Light, she probably was always a little awkward with physical contact, and well, Cloud's Cloud. xD So no, they're not in love in this scene or crushing on each other, I tried to write them as feeling awkward but I don't think I did that too well ..  
Gah, just about everything once Claire got to Cloud's house became rushed and awkwadly written. Sorry about that.**

**Welp, I gotta go, but during my absence I've thought of lots of things to include in this fic, and next chap or the one after that will be a time skip a few years from where they are now. It might be when they're in Gr.8 or just starting highschool, I'm not sure . I've also developed a sudden and magical obsession for Ali Hillis (Lightning's english voice actor) and Troy Baker (Snow's english voice actor) so Claire and Cloud's banter may be a little similar to theirs if you've watched videos of them on YouTube. I will update soon, even if it means writing on PAPER. i usually hate doing that, but i will and shall do it if I must.**

**R&R to let me know some of you are still here? (: You have no idea how relieved I get when I recieve at least 1 review; it lets me know I still have somereaders despite my horrible updating tactics.**

**Ciao!**

**-LC**


	6. Light

**I would've updated faster had it not been for a certain poetry assignment I was given ... I must've spent at least 8hrs searching for ONE poem -.- Gah. This chappie takes place 2yrs later, so Cloud and Claire are now thirteen and Serah is ten .. ALSO, i was rereading my other chapters and i've found that i keep messing up their ages so I have to go back and rewrite a few things soon. For example, in Chap1 I made Claire I think 10yrs old and Serah 4, so that would make a six year age gap. In the other chapters, Serah is only two years younger, and I messed up Claire's grade too I think -.- Blah.**

**Anyways, this is kinda just a filler chapter because I realised Cloud would probably find out that Lightning's name is in fact, Claire and that she lied to him about her name. So, for now, I think that I'm going to focus on developing their friendships and personalities that we all know and love when they're in their twenties - I'm already working on getting Lightning there, but I have to get Cloud developing soon... which leads me to another thing that delayed me updating quicker.**

**So the night after I posted Chap5, I decided to write out my plans for this fic. Then I realised something; did I want this to become an action story or just a love story? I had no idea honestly, since my other fic which is all action is struggling to continue. I really want to finish this story though, so I wrote out both outlines for this fic. I'm still working on the romance one, but I think it might be around 20-25 chapters maybe, and if its action I made it out to be around 30 with a possible sequel - but that's just how I decided to write it at the time, and I don't usually stick to what I plan. So I will be posting a new poll on my profile asking which I should do - please vote please, or leave your vote in a review!**

**Basically what would happen in the action one is that it'll kind of follow what happens in canon to Claire and Cloud and so they'll both enroll in the military (I have no idea how to write military-related things though, like how they should act, what to call people, etc.) and yah. In the romance version, this fic will follow them through elementry school all the way into college/university and maybe more, so you guys choose! *Note I might just choose whichever I deem easiest and most successful though**

**Thank you so much for all of your reviews! Enjoy!**

* * *

**The Only Exception  
Chapter 6  
Light**

Three people made their way towards the park in the downtown area of Bodhum. One girl, who seemed to be around the age of eleven was excitedly sprinting towards the park, stopping every once and a while to run back and grab the hand of what seemed to be her reluctant older sister judging by their unique hair color and azure colored eyes. A boy walked in-between the two sisters, expression a little sheepish, though a smile was plastered wide on his face.

'_Come on Claire! _You walk like a turtle! No wait, you're _slower_ than a turtle!' shouted an annoyed Serah as she tried to pull her thirteen year old sister by the hand, and failing miserably as Claire merely stopped walking and raised an amused pink brow at her.

It had been two years since Claire 'Lightning' Farron and Cloud Strife had become friends. Since then, not much had happened; Kate had landed a successful job as a nurse. Because of this she wasn't around as much as she had used to be, but she still tried her best to be a selfless, loving, albeit annoying and quirky guardian over the two Farron siblings. Claire's new choice of name became known rather fast after a month of Cloud and her being friends, resulting in a number of rumors and such being spread. Of course, the strawberry blonde ignored the murmurs, feeling content when people avoided her a little more than usual, and when they did speak to her, called her 'Lightning'. All except for Serah and occasionally Kate, of course. Cloud had at first been rather confused by the whole Claire-Lightning name switch, but he was respectful enough to continue calling Claire by the name she had told him to call her; Lightning. Besides that, Claire's 'shell' as Kate liked to call it had grown bigger around the time Kate began spending more time at work than at her apartment with the two Farron sisters. The adult felt guilty for it, but was relieved to see that the thirteen year old dropped her shell – even if only partially – around Kate, Serah, and Cloud. She was still a little aloof, but that was okay. Cloud and Serah had also become friends, Serah starting to see him as an older brother since Claire and him hung out so often.

Huffing angrily when her sister didn't move another muscle, Serah rounded on Cloud who instantly froze. He had become familiar with the sibling's short temper. It was one of the many traits they shared, and Cloud couldn't help but wonder if their parents were the same way. He didn't ask of course, after learning the tragic fate of the two adults.

Putting on her best puppy-dog face, Serah pouted. 'Cloud!' she wailed as she tackled the startled boy around the middle and began to fake tears. 'Make Claire move!'

'I, er …' Cloud blinked and looked at the older Farron who had a smirk playing around the corner of her lips, eye brow still raised. 'Please?' he mouthed to Claire, gasping for air as Serah proceeded to hug him tighter effectively cutting off his air supply. Who would've thought a nine year old could be so strong?

'Tch.' Claire snorted as she began to walk towards the park again. Serah instantly released Cloud, fake tears long gone as she skipped towards her destination as if nothing had happened. The spiky haired boy merely stood there looking rather startled, a light blush on his cheeks as he quickly followed after the two Farron sisters afterwards.

A few dozen steps later, the three friends reached their destination. Serah instantly took off towards the swings as Claire stopped near a tree, ducking into its shade; today was a hot day with a temperature of forty degrees Celsius, and as a result there wasn't as many people outside as their usually was – not that Claire could really complain though. As of late, the older Farron sibling dressed in loose or baggy clothes. Reason? Puberty. As much as she resented feeling weak and awkward as she did, she couldn't help but become overwhelmed with those feelings as her body began to develop and change, so to make herself feel a bit more comfortable, she wore baggy shirts and loose shorts. Her odd taste in clothing had also begun to develop, and the young teen began taking to wearing sleeveless clothing and layers with lots of zippers, pockets, buttons, etc. Today she wore a black tank top that hugged her body comfortably beneath a light green baggy t-shirt that looked like an over sized tank top thanks to the fact that Claire had chopped the sleeves off of it. The shirt lacked the usual buttons, zippers and buttons that were usually associated with her clothing, but she didn't seem to mind. She also wore a pair of black cotton fingerless gloves and jean shorts that were a bit tattered. Serah had been relieved to see her sister wear what she called 'sensible' clothes today. Serah herself was dressed in shorts akin to her sister's, though they were a bright florescent pink and a white tank top. Cloud had on a dark green tank top that hung very loosely on him and baggy dark blue jeans that he seemed to be sweltering evident through the beads of sweat that were beginning to appear and his face grew more flushed.

The spiky haired blond eagerly followed his friend into the tree's shade, practically collapsing to the cool grass moments later, blue eyes closing in relief as he made contact.

Claire rolled her eyes at her friend. When he had called her that morning to ask if she could come over or not, she had told him she couldn't since she had to take Serah to the park since Kate would be at her new job. Of course, Cloud being Cloud, he had instantly asked if he could come with them, and of course, Claire responded with a yes and waited for the boy to get a ride from his mother. He had arrived five minutes later dressed in his current attire which the pink haired twelve year old instantly chastised him about – jeans were never a good thing to wear when it was hot out, but Cloud brushed it off saying he'd be fine.

_Heh, not so fine now, are you? _Thought Claire as she took a seat beside her sweating friend, sharp azure eyes never leaving her younger sister on the swings. They stayed like that for a few minutes until Cloud seemed to recover from the heat enough to prop himself up on his elbows and look around, eyes lingering on Claire for a little bit before watching Serah with her.

'Hey, Lightning?' he asked in his usual husky voice, sounding a little thoughtful.

'Hm?'

'You're still going to Bodhum High for grade nine, right?'

Claire frowned as she tore her gaze from her sister to look at her friend. 'Yeah, we talked about this a few days ago. Why?'

Cloud scratched the back of his head, his face becoming a little flushed again as he cleared his throat and looked in the opposite direction.

'Er, no reason.' He lied.

The pinkette rolled her eyes. 'You're a horrible liar,' she snorted as she leaned back on her hands. 'What's up?'

'Er … I'm probably going to sound pathetic, but ...' Cloud cleared his throat again as he directed his gaze to the ground. 'I … we'll still be friends in high school, right?' he asked as he chanced a glance at his friend.

Claire's brows furrowed, about to ask him why he was asking such a question when he interrupted her and shook his head.

'I know, I know, we're friends – but, it's just …' Cloud turned to face Claire fully, worried dark blue orbs staring into confused azure ones. He sighed. 'High school's a year away, Lightning, and well, I'm kinda just worried we might … you know, drift …'

Claire raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't interrupt his nervous explanation.

''Cause, you know, we've both told each other we were each other's first friends and all but – I dunno. I guess I'm just paranoid. Hehe. Forget I said anything.' The spiky haired blond shook his head and directed his attention back to Serah in front of them, the two of them sitting in a tense silence for few minutes, Cloud rigid as a board while Claire frowned at the ground a little.

Finally, after a few more stiff moments, Claire looked up from the ground at the back of her friend's head. 'Cloud,' she began, 'You know we'll stay friends in high school. I promise we will, don't worry about it.'

Cloud turned to look at her as Serah jumped off of the swings and darted towards the slides, laughing loudly as she twirled in circles along the way, a butterfly following her.

'Really?' he asked, eyes brightening as his expression became hopeful.

Claire nodded once, giving him one of smiles that only he, Kate, and Serah had the privilege to see. Cloud suddenly lunged forwards and hugged his friend tightly, startling her a little at the unexpected contact and grinned widely.

A year ago, when the two friends had become close enough to tell each other a few of their secrets, Cloud had found out how Claire's parents died, as well as the confusing topic that was her birth name versus her adopted name, while Claire discovered more about Cloud's life and how his dad had left he and his mother when he died in battle in his job as a SOLDIER – a special elite force in the military. She found out that she wasn't exactly Cloud's first friend, and that he had two other friends before her; Zack Fair and Tifa Lockhart. He told her that the two of them still lived in Nibelheim, and he hadn't seen them since he moved. By the end of the two's deep conversation, they had both told the other how much their friendship meant to them, and – albeit rather awkwardly – told the other how neither of them wanted their friendship to die. It was special. Not to mention nearly sacred to Claire.

The smile on Claire's face disappeared for a moment before returning a little softer than it had been before as she hugged her friend back.

'Thanks, Light,' muttered Cloud as he let go of her with a small grin. 'It means a lot.'

Claire's brows furrowed slightly at the sudden new nickname for her. ''Light'?' she repeated in a confused tone.

Cloud's small grin instantly grew at this.

'Yeah! Well – you told me last year how you came across 'Lightning',' he said a little hurriedly as he looked down a little awkwardly. 'And well, like you said – _'Lightning can't protect, it only destroys'. _Well, I think that's not exactly suitable for you …'

Claire's frown only deepened further with confusion, which Cloud chuckled at.

'Well, see, light's a lot warmer and friendlier than lightning is – it can save people for one thing,' he said thoughtfully, 'and it can make people happy … so, you're more like 'light' more than anything, Lightning.'

The pink haired girl considered his words for a few moments before cocking her head a little and cracking a smile. 'If you say so.' She said as she lay backwards so that she was staring upwards at the tree's leaves and branches above her as Cloud smiled and continued to stay where he was as Serah let out a burst of laughter and slid down a slide.

The pink haired thirteen year old had to admit, she did like the sound of it, her new nickname. _Light_.

* * *

***Little Tidbit of Info - I would've updated earlier, but the version of this chapter I was writing at the time didn't work out to well so I had to delete everything and change it completely. If you wanted to know, it started off with Claire and Cloud in Grade 7, not 8 and in Claire's kitchen as they tried to make cookies with Serah. It involved Claire getting covered in flour and the three of them having an epic flour fight resulting in Kate's kitchen becoming completely white and powder-covered, and then Kate comes home and busts them .. well, that's what it started off as, until I remembered I don't even know how to make cookies or cook so it didn't end up working out. Hehe n_n'**

**Also, as you could see here, Claire's beginning to develop that colder, more withdrawn side of her - should I leave Cloud as he is or should something traumatic happen to him as well? Cause, sure, they'd be more in character and all but, I think that this more outgoing, not withdrawn Cloud is better with Claire for the moment. After all, he _is _ what got Claire outta her shell, right? (:**

**Were they OOC? Was it ****Good? Bad? Leave a review a********nd tell me your opinion! ALSO, don't forget to vote! Romance or Action?**

******Till we meet again!**

******-Lightning Catastrophe**


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